Mufti ends re-employment culture

In a bid to ensure transparent and accountable government, Chief Minister Mufti Muhammad Sayeed Tuesday revoked all the re-employment and re-engagement orders and withdrew the authority of all the departments to engage casual labourers with immediate effect.
The government ordered termination of all re-employment and re-engagements orders and revoked all orders of engagement and arrangements made without following the selection procedures even on contractual basis in different departments, Public Sector Undertakings (PSUs), boards and autonomous bodies.
The government also revoked all the appointments made by these bodies at their own level too.
The chief minister’s directions are seen to be meant for restoring the credibility of the administration so that it works in a fair and transparent manner.
The decision has been taken focusing on generating maximum work from the manpower in the system and keeping the interests of thousands of educated unemployed youth in mind, who used to get affected with the re-employment and re-engagement policy of the previous government.
Jammu and Kashmir has the highest unemployment rate in north India with around 6 lakh youth having registered themselves with the employment department in order to get jobs.
The chief minister after reviewing the policy on Tuesday directed for the order calling for end to re-employment and re-engagement in the government departments and also PSUs, boards and autonomous bodies.
“The Chief Minister said this should not be a policy of the government. We have a lot of employees and yet the works are pending. So what’s the use of re-employment? He was keen that the manpower which is already with us should get the work done,” Commissioner Secretary to the Government, General Administration Department, M A Bukhari told.
“However, he said wherever there were procedures and provisions in schemes, the contractual employees should be regularized on a general policy guideline,” he quoted the CM as saying.
Bukhari said the people on whom these orders apply would be identified soon.
While the culture of re-employment and re-engagement was being promoted in the past, the unemployment rate for males in Jammu and Kashmir was 3.6 percent whereas that of females was 17.1 percent which is far too high when compared to the neighboring states including Punjab (11.7 percent), Haryana (2.8 percent), Delhi (2.8 percent) and HP (2.5 percent).
Meanwhile, sources said the order would not affect the 12,000 causal labourers, who are already working in the different departments, PSUs, boards and autonomous bodies.
“However, the dispensation of engaging more people on casual basis has been withdrawn by the government,” a top level officer said.